Bearing construction



April 17, 1951 L. BRENDEL 2,549,659

BEARING CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 4, 1948 INVENTOR. LEON BRENDEL Patented Apr. 17, 1951 UNITED STATES "PATENT" OFFICE j 1 2,549,659

BEARING CONSTRUCTION Leon Brendel, St. Helena, Calif.

Application September 4, 1948, Serial No. 47,907

. Claim. (Cl. 308-121) This invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning wine hoses, beer hoses and the like, such as employed to convey wine or beer from one point to another in a winery or brewery.

It is common practice in breweries and wineries to employ a rubber hose of large diameter and upto 50 feet or more in length to convey wine or beer from one point to another. Such hoses becomey'fouled ontheir inner surfaces by a scale which is difficult to remove and cannot be removed merely by washing. Heretofore it has been the practice to clean such hoses manually in the best manner possible, but such methods of cleaning have been very unsatisfactory.

The problem of cleaning wine hoses, beer hoses and the like is rendered difficult not only because of the tenacious character of the scale formed on the interior surface of the hose, but also because of the length of the hose. As stated, the hose may be 50 feet in length. In cleaning such a hose a long tool is necessary and greatdifficulty is experienced because of this.

Rotary tools, such as a wire brush mounted at the end of a flexible shaft, have been proposed heretofore for use in cleaning hoses of this character. However, owing to the length of flexible shaft required, and to the high speed of rotation that is required for effective cleaning, such tools have been unsatisfactory, owing to vibration and whipping motion of the tool. This vibration and whipping motion are such as to render their use both difiicult and dangerous.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of cleaning device for wine hoses, beer hoses and the like.

It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a rotary cleaning device for wine hoses, beer hoses and the like which employs a motor and a flexible shaft, which. is'operable effectively to clean such hoses up to lengths of 50 feet or. more and which obviates the disadvantages which have been encountered in similar cleaning devices heretofore...

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuingdescription and the appended claim.

The invention is exemplified in the following description and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the cleaning device of the invention showing the same mounted upon a frame and. in alignment with a hose to be cleaned.

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are sections taken along the lines 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the bearing and handle of the cleaning device of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through one of the bearings employed in the handle shown in Fig. 5;

Fig;7 is a section taken through a hose showing the cleaning'device of the invention in operation.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1, a cleaning device generally designated as In is shown suspended from a framework generally designated as II. The cleaning device II] comprises a motor I2, a flexibleshaft I3, 2. combined handle and bearing I4, anda stiff brush I5. Themotor I2 may be of any suitable type capable of, operation at high rotary speeds, such as 3750 R. P. M. The flexible shaft I3 is made up of segments I6 coupled together by coupling members I'I. Any suitable flexible shaft may be used, for example, that made by the Mall Tool Company of Chicago, Illinois, and described in Patent No. 1,678,335 to Ralph W. Gaston, and Patents Nos. 1,943,980 and 2,167,987 to Arthur W. Mall. As is well known, such shafts comprise an inner core of piano wires woven into spiral form and encased in an inner casing of stainless steel and in an outer casing of rubber- I As illustrated, the motor I2 and the flexible shaft I3 are suspended from a framework II, which may be made in sections of convenient length and which comprises a longitudinal, channel-shaped member I8 supported upon vertical posts. I9. The motor is suspended from the framework by means of a bale or handle 20, and rollers 25,- thelatter being received within the channel member I8 and riding therein, as shown in Fig. 4. The flexible shaft is supported by means of hooks 2B and rollers 27 which are received within and ride in the channel member I8 as shown in Fig. 3. A hose-to be cleaned, indicated at 28, is supported in a trough 29,, which may also be made in sections of convenient length and, during use, is aligned with the frame I I.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 5 and 6, the combined handle and bearing I4 comprises a tubular casing 30 made of brass, steel or other suitable metal. This casing is threaded at each end, as at 3| and 32, and it is also provided intermediate its ends with oil holes 33 normally closed by plugs 34. Disposed within and concentrically of the tubular casing 30 is a solid shaft 31, which is coupled at one end. at 38 to a coupling member I! as illustrated,

A plurality of bearings 45 are provided for the shaft, four of such bearings being shown for purposes of illustration. As shown more clearly in Fig. 6, each bearing 45 is a sleeve bearing which is provided with diametrically opposed, continuous oil grooves 66, each of which comprises an outer peripheral portion 41 and an inner curved portion 48 formed on the inner surface of the bearing. As illustrated, the outer portion is open at one end at 49 for inflow of lubricant as explained in detail hereinafter, and the outer portion 41 is in open communication near its ends with the ends of the curved portion 48. The bearings 45 are press fitted or driven into the casing 38 and are paired together, as illustrated, with the closed ends of grooves 41 adjacent. The bearings 45 are so disposed as to provide lubricant reservoirs 49, 50 and the reservoir 49 being closed by a plug 52 and the reservoir 5| by a washer 53 held in place by set screws 54. The inner end of the casing 38 is also closed by the threaded end of coupling member H.

The bearing structure and handle 14 is assembled as shown in Fig. 5. Oil is introduced into the reservoir 49 before inserting the plug 52' or through the oil hole 33, and oil is also introduced into the reservoirs 58 and 5| through the oil holes 33.

It will thus be seen that a combined handle and bearing structure is provided in which the central shaft Bl is rotatable in a plurality of sleeve bearings, and each of the sleeve bearings is provided with a plurality of grooves for circulating oil exteriorly and interiorly of the bearing. It will further be seen that a plurality of separate oil reservoirs are provided, each of which has access to the adjacent bearing or bearings, but that lubricant cannot flow from any one reservoir beyond the extent of the adjacent bearing or bearings.

As shown in Fig. '7, the hose cleaning device is provided at its outer end with a brush 15 which may be of any suitable construction, preferably having bristles 56 of wire and nylon and being provided with a coupling member 51 so as to be detachable from the outer end of the shaft 31. An assortment of such brushes will, of course, be kept in stock for hoses of different diameters.

In operation the cleaning device of the invention may be employed as follows:

The supporting framework H and the hose trough 29 are set up as shown in Fig; 1. The cleaning device It! is suspended from the framework ll as there shown, with the motor at the far end of the framework, and a hose is laid out in the trough 28 in longitudinal alignment with the cleaning device. The motor I2 is started, causing rapid rotation of the brush 15. The handle as is grasped by hand and the brush is inserted in the adjacent end of the hose. The flexible cable 13 is thrust by hand into the hose, which will result, of course, in pulling the motor forwardly along the supporting framework ll and causing the hooks 26 to bunch up at the forward end of the framework. When the brush has been inserted to the extent desired, the motor, which is left running, is pulled in the opposite direction and thus pulls the brush in the opposite direction to remove it from the hose. It is then preferable to Wash out the hose by means of a stream of water, after which the cleaning operation may be repeated again and as often as desired or as necessary to accomplish the cleaning operation. Where, for example, a foot length of flexible shaft I3 is employed, and a hose of greater length, e. g. 50 feet, is to be cleaned, the'hose will be cleaned from each end.

It will thus be seen that a cleaning device has been provided which is simple in character, which employs to the utmost extent standard materials of construction or materials which are easily fabricated, and which is operable to clean a wine hose, beer hose or the like by means of a rotary brush rotating at a very high speed and at the end of a 25 foot or longer length of flexible cable. It has been found that the apparatus works smoothly, efficiently and dependably, and that there is only a very slight degree of vibration and no danger whatever to the operator in handling the same.

While I have illustrated and described my invention in detail, it is to be understood thatvarious changes may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claim.

I clann:

A combination handle and bearing for flexible cables comprising: a tube; a plurality of longitudinally spaced pairs of abutting sleeve bearings disposed within said tube and having a force fit therewith, each bearing being provided on its outer surface with diametrically opposed longitudinal oil grooves extending from its outer end to a point short of its inner end and communicating at longitudinally spaced points with continuous oil channels formed onthe inner surface of said bearing, said tube being provided with plugged oil intake holes extending therethrough at points adjacent the outer ends of said bearings.

LEON BRENDEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,233,127 ROSS July 10,1917 1,320,582 Sperling Nov. 4, 1919 1,674,453 Sloper June 19, 1928 1,926,999 Keller Sept. 12, 1933 1,999,266 Warlop Apr. 30, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 85,388 Sweden Nov. 28, 1935 

